


BFF (Best Friends Forever)

by eerian_sadow



Series: Avalon [32]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Trine Dynamics, becoming friends, light Cybertronian swearing, patching up relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-08-06
Updated: 2009-08-09
Packaged: 2018-09-18 22:58:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9406685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eerian_sadow/pseuds/eerian_sadow
Summary: It isn't always easy to bring people together.  Sometimes it's even harder to split them apart once it's happened.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> and this is where TC decided he needed to be chatty. i've been working on things off and on for the last week or so, but work stress has slaughtered my ability to get it finished in a timely manner.

Even when his wing mate was deliberately avoiding him, Thundercracker was never hard to find--especially if they had any kind of written test coming up. He was hiding in the back corner of the library when Skywarp sought him out, reading through the lesson texts again and making notes on his personal data pad.

“What do you want, Skywarp?” Thundercracker didn’t even look up from his text as the purple Seeker sat down across from him.

Skywarp grinned, completely unaffected by his wing mate’s irritation. “What makes you think I want anything?”

“Because you haven’t seen me in cycles and you never come into the library unless you have a report due,” the blue Seeker replied. “So what do you want?”

“I came to invite you over for energon at the end of the cycle,” Skywarp replied. “But if you’re too busy studying, I’m sure I can find some other mech who wants to come over.”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not interested in being set up with your roommate?” Thundercracker did look up now, irritation turning to anger on his face places.

“And how many times do I have to tell you that I’m _not_ trying to set the two of you up?” He frowned, not liking where his friend was taking the conversation. “I just want the two of you to get to know each other.”

The blue Seeker shook his head. “Absolutely not. I know what he’s supposed to have done, and I refuse to be associated with a mech like that. My reputation still matters to me.”

Skywarp slammed his hands into the table, feeling the first stirrings of a truly raging anger. “You can’t tell me that you honestly believe that he killed his partner! You don’t even know him!”

“It doesn’t have to be the truth to make me look bad.” Thundercracker’s expression shifted from irritated to something the purple Seeker couldn’t identify. “And unlike some mechs, I don’t have the credits to buy myself back into the administration’s good graces.”

“Frag you,” Skywarp said hotly. “I thought you of all mechs would be willing to give him a chance, but I guess I was wrong.”

The purple mech stood, knocking over his chair in careless anger, as he saw the hurt flash across his wing mate’s face. He turned away before Thundercracker could reply, not wanting to hear more excuses; Starscream didn’t need the kind of friend the other Seeker had turned out to be, anyway.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

He was gone for groons after his confrontation with Thundercracker in the library--more than long enough for Starscream to comm him and ask if he was ever coming home. He felt vaguely guilty about that, since he’d told the scientist that he’d only be gone for one groon at the most and Starscream still didn’t always do well on his own, but he’d needed time to cool off before he inflicted his anger on his roommate.

“I was worried when you didn’t comm,” Starscream said when he stepped through the door.

“I’m sorry,” Skywarp replied. “We had a fight and I had to go cool off.”

“Comm me next time, even if you‘re angry. I thought you weren‘t coming back.” The scientist’s voice was vulnerable, and he felt like twice the glitch when he realized why.

“Sure,” the purple Seeker replied, any lingering anger now vanished. “Didn’t mean to make you think anything bad had happened.”

“It’s all right.” Starscream was obviously trying to put on a brave face and Skywarp felt even worse. He _knew_ the other mech had issues with being left alone.

“I’m sorry,” he said, stepping up to the other mech and pulling him into a hug.

Starscream allowed Skywarp to hold him for a moment, obviously drawing comfort from the embrace. He pulled away abruptly after a few klicks, though, strong mask back in place. “Even if he’s not coming, we still need fuel. And there’s nothing in the apartment.”

“Sure.” the purple Seeker had learned, quickly, when his roommate was trying to change the subject and was quick to give in. Sometimes he didn’t want to talk about things anymore, either. “Anyplace special you want to go?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> switched points of view from Skywarp to Starscream this chapter, which was planned from the begining. someday, i may do a one piece introspection from Thundercracker's point of view for these events, too, but it's not included in this fic.

Starscream rested his head on the wall of the wash racks, thinking over his roommate’s current situation while the spray of cleaning solvents rinsed away the dust of the day. He hadn’t been truly dirty since moving in with Skywarp, but he still used the wash racks every cycle--needing the reminder that he wasn’t living on the streets any more and that he had the luxury of being clean again. The purple Seeker had been so good to him since the day they met, always being there for him without pushing him too far past his comfort zones. Skywarp took care of him when he couldn’t find the strength to take care of himself, and the scientist was grateful for that.

It wasn’t easy, trying to move on without Skyfire, but Skywarp held him up when Starscream was sure he would fall.

The other Seeker’s situation with his wing mate was intolerable, though. Skywarp and Thundercracker’s fight had been five cycles ago, and Thundercracker was still refusing to speak with Skywarp. The purple Seeker was growing depressed, which was disturbing since Starscream hadn’t ever seen him be anything except upbeat when he wasn‘t fussing over him.

It hurt him to see his friend like this, and Starscream thought he finally understood how the other mech had felt about him living on the street. As he reached out to turn off the solvent shower, the scientist decided that he had to do something about the situation.

And while he wasn’t sure how he was going to do it, Starscream was fairly certain that he was going to have to confront Thundercracker in order for anything to change.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

After ten cycles, nothing had changed except that Skywarp came home from classes every day and hid in his room until Starscream drug him out for energon. The purple Seeker was sinking deeper and deeper into depression, and the scientist was becoming more and more angry.

It was well past time for someone to take matters in hand.

Starscream slipped quietly out of the apartment, not wanting to disturb Skywarp or give the opportunity to ask awkward questions, and took to the air. The other Seeker had mentioned, several times, how predictable Thundercracker’s habits were and the scientist was hoping that the mech hadn’t changed his habits over the last ten cycles. He’d be easy to find in the library--it was open to the general public--but he’d be much harder to find anywhere else on the Military Academy campus.

When he reached the Academy gates, Starscream realized how unprepared he was for the sheer size of the place. The Science Academy was a small campus without much open space or empty air but the Military Academy was full of huge sprawling fields between the buildings. He had no idea how he was going to find his way around. With a nervous tremble that he hoped wasn’t too obvious, Starscream stepped up to the guard at the entry gate.

“Identification,” the guard demanded.

Starscream produced his identification chit. “I’m looking for the library.”

The guard gave ran the chit through the reader and handed it back. “Straight ahead from here, behind he hill.”

“Thank you.” the Seeker put his chit away, grateful that his name hadn’t caused a fuss. Then he walked away, following the guard’s sketchy directions.

He finally found the library after having to ask one of the students for better directions. The building was so nondescript when he finally arrived that he wasn’t surprised he had missed it; the sign on the side wasn’t big enough to notice from the walking paths. Starscream stepped inside with relief.

Now, if the rest of his plan worked out, he would talk to Thundercracker, pick up some fresh energon from that market Skywarp liked and be back home before the purple Seeker realized he was gone.

“Excuse me,” he said, walking up to the mech at the courtesy desk. “I’m looking for a mech named Thundercracker and I was told I could find him here.”

“Are you a friend of his?” the mech asked.

“I’m Skywarp’s roommate.” the mech was nodding before Starscream could come up with a clever excuse for why he would be looking for Thundercracker.

“I’m not surprised that he’s got you delivering messages, after that spat they had the other day.” the attendant pointed toward a lift shaft cut neatly into the wall. “Take the lift down a level and head all the way to the back of the room. Thundercracker likes to sit back there to study.”

“Thanks.”

The lower level of the library was cozy, and Starscream could see why Skywarp’s wing mate would chose to come there to study. It reminded him of the research room he and Skyfire had kept in their apartment, and that made him feel like he was on more level ground.

As promised, there was a blue Seeker sitting at the table in the back of the room, though whether he was Thundercracker or not remained to be seen. Starscream approached him as straightforwardly as he could.

“Are you Thundercracker?”

The blue Seeker looked up. He looked Starscream over carefully, then his optics narrowed. “If Skywarp thought that sending you in person would solve anything, he was wrong.”

That statement threw him off. “What?”

“You are Starscream and not some transfer student, right?” Thundercracker’s optics were intense, but Starscream couldn’t say just what they were hiding.

“Yes,” he replied cautiously.

“Then, like I said, sending you in person isn’t going to change my mind.” the blue Seeker turned back to his data pads. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have to study.”

“You have to study,” the scientist repeated. “You have to study, while the mech who called you his best friend depresses himself into stasis because you won’t even talk to him.”

“Right. I’m sure he hasn’t even thought about me.” Even if Starscream didn’t know the other mech personally, the defeat in his voice was evident. He might be dealing with it better, but he was just as upset as Skywarp over what was happening between them.

“You must be glitched.” Starscream waited until the other Seeker had looked at him again to continue. “He talks about you like you’re the best external component invented since wings. He’s completely lost without you.”

Thundercracker looked away, but he didn’t return to his data pads. The scientist took it as in invitation to continue speaking. “He talks about a lot of mechs, but you’re the only one he calls his friend.”

“Neither of you get it. I can’t--”

“Oh, I know what you told him,” Starscream interrupted. “And I think you even believe some of it’s true. But frag them! The opinions of some administrators don’t mean anything. They can all contract rust and deactivate!”

“You stole him!” the blue Seeker finally shouted. “He met you in that slagging oil house and you took him away from me!”

“I didn’t take anyone away from anyone else. Skywarp isn’t gone. He isn’t lost, he isn’t deactivated. He’s sitting in his room, pretending to care about living, when all he wants is to offline. _Because he thinks you hate him._ “ The scientist looked at the table, unable to maintain his glare. “At least you have the chance to fix what went wrong.”

He processor flooded with memories of Skyfire, then. Stupid things he had said and done, and never gotten to apologize for. Projects they would never be able to finish. Experiences they would never be able to repeat. He felt his partner’s loss more keenly than he had since Skyfire had vanished--and he knew that he could never let Skywarp experience anything like it.

Especially when the mech he was losing was still online.

Starscream didn’t notice when Thundercracker slipped from the room.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“You‘re home.” Starscream was surprised to see his roommate standing by the window instead of hiding in his room.

The scientist flinched at how broken Skywarp’s voice sounded. “Yes. Sorry. It took longer to get the energon than I thought it would.”

“It’s all right,” the other Seeker replied. “Was there anything good?”

“Sweet Touch had those orange energon goodies that you like. She insisted that I bring some home for you.”

“She’s a good femme.” Skywarp turned away from the window and gave him a sad smile. “You didn’t have any trouble out there with my credit chit, did you?”

Starscream shook his head. “No. They know I’m with you by now.”

“Good.” the purple Seeker took the energon crate out of his hands almost mechanically. “Do you think you could help me with my course work after we refuel? Physics isn’t making sense again.”

“Sure.” He tried to keep the sadness out of his voice, but he hated how lifeless the other mech had become. Skywarp was supposed to be loud and vibrant, like those little flying organics he and Skyfire used to study.

Skywarp started arranging the energon goodies on a pair of serving trays. The action looked rehearsed, like the actions were ingrained habit and he was only doing the serving because he thought he should be. Starscream’s attention was pulled away from his roommate as a gentle chime rang through the apartment, announcing a guest at the door.

“I’ll get it,” he said, wondering who would be coming to visit them.

Thundercracker was standing on the other side of the door when it opened. The blue Seeker held a box out to him. “Peace offering.”

“What?” Starscream took the box and stared at the other mech in confusion.

“Sweet Touch said they were your favorite.” Thundercracker lifted the lid of the box so that the scientist could see the energon goodies inside. “So, peace offering. I don’t… want to hate you.”

Starscream was thoughtful for a moment. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the “peace offering”, but he didn’t want to dislike the other Seeker either. “You want to come in? we were getting ready to refuel and I know we have enough for three.”

“I’d like that.” Thundercracker was cautious as he stepped inside.

“Who was at the door?” Skywarp asked as the two mechs left the entryway.

“I was,” the blue Seeker said softly.

“Thundercracker?” the purple Seeker turned from his fueling preparations to stare at his friend.

“I was an aft,” Thundercracker told him. “Forgive me?”

Skywarp stepped away from the counter and walked over to the other Seeker. He threw his arms around his wing mate and hugged him close before Thundercracker had a chance to protest. “I forgive you.”

Starscream watched them for a moment, smiling softly. Then he took his energon and went to his room. They didn’t need him making things awkward while they were making up.  



End file.
